Sundance Film Festival 2023 – Tangible Opportunities for the Latinx Community: A Conversation with The Latinx House Co-Founder Olga Segura
The Latinx House co-founder Olga Segura shares with Script why The Latinx House organization was founded, her journey from mere Sundance attendee over a decade ago to premiering her film as a producer, the initiatives and partnerships that they’ve created over the last few years, networking advice, and much more.
The founders of The Latinx House are on a mission to bring real opportunities for the Latinx storytelling landscape, by forging strategic partnerships with companies that not only talk the talk but walk the walk in Hollywood. Founded in 2018, co-founders Olga Segura, Monica Ramirez, and Alexandra Martinez Kondracke have been on a steadfast mission to connect the Latinx community through film and entertainment, while providing a space for networking and activations.
This year at the Sundance Film Festival, they were back, bigger and better, on Main Street in Park City. They took over a large space that buzzed with palpable creative energy and a sense of warmth and open arms. The Latinx House, in partnership with the Sundance Institute, hosted three days, January 20-22, 2023, of panels and conversations, led by industry thought leaders and creatives, mixed with great music and comradery.
I had the absolute honor of speaking with one of the co-founders, Olga Segura, a Mexican producer who has produced over 8 films with projects premiering at Venice, Berlin, and Sundance Film Festivals. Olga is also the founder of “Decididas,” a digital content series and platform that empowers women in Mexico and Latin America by creating awareness of the decisions they make every day to generate positive changes in society. In addition, she is a founder of, Poderistas, a movement, and platform designed to empower the next generation of Latinas.
Olga shares why The Latinx House organization was founded, her journey from mere Sundance attendee over a decade ago to premiering her film as a producer, the initiatives and partnerships that they’ve created over the last few years, networking advice, and much more.
This interview has been edited for content and clarity.
Sadie Dean: How did your team come together and create this organization?
Olga Segura: We're lucky that we have found each other. I feel like when you find and connect with the right people, then some magic can happen. It was the perfect time at the perfect moment. I came as an audience here. I came in 2009, and I was walking on Main Street, trying to get tickets, lining up, buying my tickets out in the cold, dreaming about, ‘Oh, my God when am I going to --’ [tears of joy] ‘-- have a movie here?’ I always get emotional. I remember walking on the street and it was like, ‘Wow, this is awesome! I really want to do this.’ And then in 2010, I get invited to do this film Goats. And it was a special screening premiere in 2012 here, and I had just one scene with David Duchovny, and it wasn't in competition. And that was my first Sundance. I had a movie with a very small role, with David Duchovny. And then I was still walking around Main Street [laughs] up and down, trying to connect with people, get invited to things, no luck.
2013 then I started as a producer, actually, at the same time that I was acting, I started as a producer because I have a degree in International Business and a Master's that I did in France in Administration - for me, I'm always a businesswoman. So, I was like, ‘I'm not gonna wait.’ And the reality is that I sucked at auditioning. I was so bad. [laughs] I was like, ‘OK, no this is not for me.’ [laughs] ‘I'm gonna become a producer.’ I was lucky to meet Francesca Gregorini, who's my best friend, and she directed The Truth About Emmanuel with Kaya Scodelario - we launched Kaya’s career, actually, I remember putting a package together for Fox Searchlight for Maze Runner, and then she was the lead for Maze Runner – but it was with Jessica Biel and Alfred Molina in dramatic competition. So, I was like, ‘Oh, audience, small tiny roll in Goats, and then dramatic competition as a producer. This is good.’ [laughs] Still walking up and down Main Street, and ‘Can I get into that list? Or can I do this?’
I gotta say that the Sundance Institute, because I was an alumni, I was invited to everything that they were doing, which was fun. But still, there was a lot more that I wanted to get into, so I could network, and meet people. And that's how you actually do more things in this industry. It's all about that and unfortunately, you find out very soon about that.
I tell you all about those things because I'm so proud that I got to meet Monica Ramirez and Alex Martinez Kondracke through Time’s Up because Monica Ramirez wrote the letter “Dear Sisters”, and Alex and I were founding members of Time's Up, and that's how we met Monica. And we started getting the Latinx community together, Alex, Monica, and I within Time’s Up. And then we saw the potential. I'm an immigrant from Mexico and Panama, I'm Mexican Panamanian, but I'm an immigrant. I came to this country with an O-1 visa, and I always wanted to be that bridge, I had a lot of opportunities to be at tables where I was the only immigrant. And I saw my friends that were living in the US paying taxes. Some of them like actually with green cards and American citizens. And there was a disconnection, because there's too many of us, and we're so big. But I think that's when Alex and I, we came to Sundance, in 2019 without Monica, and Alex and I, we were on Macro Lodge with Tessa Thompson - actually, Tessa Thompson is a Time’s Up our founding member as well - they organized a conversation there. And that's when Alex and I were like, ‘We got to have a house here.’
She's a writer, I'm a producer-director now - and we're very Hollywood, right? I've never run a nonprofit so we needed someone that was the best of the best in the activism world that would help us lead this. So we went to Monica Ramirez, ‘Do you want to be the president?’ [laughs] ‘Do you want to actually run his nonprofit and do like a house as the Latinx House?’ And Monica said no at the beginning because her passions were more broad. Not just Hollywood. She understand why we were really concentrating on Hollywood because storytelling is important, but she was like, ‘We need to connect all fronts; activism, the people on the ground so we can activate, so that we can intertwine them, so that their stories are better.’ And then she said, yes, and we launched in 2020.
I'm very proud, because in 2020, I saw a lot of what was actually the biggest year for Latinx films in the festival, and we didn't know that we just launched. It was kind of like God and the universe was like…
Sadie: It was meant to be.
Olga: It was meant to be, it was perfect. It was successful. I remember a lot of filmmakers made me cry, because they were on Main Street trying to get invited. ‘We have a movie in the World Competition and we're not invited anywhere, because we don't have a PR team to pay $10,000 to that can get me into everything.’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, I know, that was me.’ [laughs] I'm very proud that we're given a space to connect with everybody. Some incredible magic happens at the house, I gotta say, I've been hearing stories about people actually building things out of connecting here.
Sadie: Yeah. And that's all part of it, right? Building that social and emotional connection through storytelling.
Olga: Yeah. There's two elements; altitude gets people to become more human, right? You forget about everything. You're floating and you're enjoying everybody. And you're so open. Yeah, there's something special about that.
Sadie: And the clean air.
Olga: Yeah, and the clean air. The filmmakers yesterday, because I remember myself only 13 years ago when they were talking to me and one asked me, ‘I have my first short film here. What do I do?’ And I was like, ‘Talk to everybody. Go introduce yourself.’ Talk to everybody, because you don't know what you can get out of that connection. It can be like a love connection or your best friend, right? [laughs] There's so many beautiful things that you learn by just not being afraid. And I think you really got to trust your instinct. You got to shoot those demons that are talking to you. ‘They’re gonna laugh at you. She's gonna say no. Don't go.’ And I'm like, ‘Shut them off. And then just go for it.’
Sadie: The worst thing that can happen is someone is going to say no.
Olga: And it's OK! You're gonna go back to bed. And you're gonna like, ‘She was just so close. Why didn't I say anything?’ Yeah, you want to go to bed nicely. Just try it. [laughs] You never know.
Sadie: Now when it comes to finding film companies and individuals to join and support your organization, how do you know it’s going to be a viable partnership not just for your brand, but for the storytellers you’re supporting?
Olga: We do the work of vetting. And we're very strict about it. We have turned money down, I'm not gonna say the brands or the organizations, but we have to turn money down, which is not an easy thing to do when you're building something like this. To be right on Main Street costs a lot of money to build. But I have to say, having someone like Monica Ramirez has helped us a lot, because she just has this incredible reputation as a leader in everything she does; she vets and she really makes sure that we're gonna be OK. And when I'm saying that we are going to be OK, I'm talking about our community, I'm not talking about me, Monica, Alex, and The Latinx House. It's not about that. I've learned that with Monica, we're always looking ahead, and what is the results that we are going to get?
One example is Netflix. Netflix was one of the first supporters for our launch in 2020. Our vision is not just to create a space and have parties. We want to deliver tangible opportunities for our community. We just don't want to have a space and just be known by, ‘Oh, they throw like the best parties at Sundance.’ What's next? What is actually good that is going to really push and change the cultural narrative of how we are perceived, not just in the US, but worldwide.
So, Netflix, we pitched this idea of creating a platform, actually, I'm very proud of it, because that was when I was breastfeeding my daughter and when you're breastfeeding, you're not doing anything, I'm like, ‘What am I doing? I've gotta do something!’ And then I called Monica, ‘I think I have an idea for a program.’ And then I talked to her and then she was like, ‘Yes, let's do it.’ And I was like, ‘OK, I'm gonna start setting up calls.’ I called the Women at Sundance, Adella Ladjevardi, I had a meeting with her, and I said, ‘Hey, what about doing an incubator or a program to support just Latinx female directors, and non-binary members that incentivize women to get out with an opportunity at shadowing one episode?’ The Sundance Labs and Sundance, they've been doing this for many years, but I just went for it. And she's like, ‘You know what, actually, because of the statistics and the numbers, we actually are trying to concentrate on giving opportunities and concentrating on Latinx, people of color, and yes, I think that's a great idea.’ I got this woman at Sundance and the institute on board and then I went to Netflix, and Netflix said yes. And then I went to Shondaland. And Shondaland also said yes. And they gave us two shadow slots. We were missing one. Gloria Calderon Kellett gave us that shadow. I'm very proud of the little program, - breastfeeding my daughter, ‘I gotta do something!’ [laughs]
Sadie: Yeah, giving life to two babies! [laughs]
Olga: [laughs] Yeah, that was my baby. We joke around, but that was literally my baby. And I'm so close to Tom Verica from Shondaland. I was lucky to have my partners say yes. It's those branches that everybody says yes, but it takes 11 months, right? It wasn't like overnight. 11 months to give birth to this other baby, but it was very special.
To learn more about The Latinx House and upcoming programs, activations and conversations, click here.
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Sadie Dean is the Editor of Script Magazine and writes the screenwriting column, Take Two, for Writer’s Digest print magazine. She is also the co-host of the Reckless Creatives podcast. Sadie is a writer and filmmaker based in Los Angeles, and received her Master of Fine Arts in Screenwriting from The American Film Institute. She has been serving the screenwriting community for nearly a decade by providing resources, contests, consulting, events, and education for writers across the globe. Sadie is an accomplished writer herself, in which she has been optioned, written on spec, and has had her work produced. Additionally, she was a 2nd rounder in the Sundance Screenwriting Lab and has been nominated for The Humanitas Prize for a TV spec with her writing partner. Sadie has also served as a Script Supervisor on projects for WB, TBS and AwesomenessTV, as well as many independent productions. She has also produced music videos, short films and a feature documentary. Sadie is also a proud member of Women in Film.
Follow Sadie and her musings on Twitter @SadieKDean
